The Walkers: The Return

Chapter 17

Author's Note: Holy f**king COVID-19! I am currently sitting in the lap of work-from-home luxury. Thankfully, my job can be done remotely. It doesn't mean this isn't an awful time. To all my readers, I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Please look out for one another.

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Chapter 17

Smoke on the Water – Covered by 2WEI (Great version to run to)

The Zoo - FEWS

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To my knowledge, there were few moments where I felt truly screwed. Even when we had found ourselves surrounded by certain death, I held onto the belief that we would overcome—and we did; however, as I stared up at the line of newborns which waved and wafted as more leeches struggled behind them, I felt my grip on that belief loosen. Newborns were easily taken down when there was a handful or two, but this collection was immense. There had to be at least fifty. How were the two leeches controlling them? I didn't have much time to ponder how or why, as Maria raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

It took less than milliseconds for the horde to attack. They tumbled down the asphalt, a few of them digging their hands into the cement hill, fracturing it on contact. The others fell like a rockslide, rolling with little regard to where or how they fell. It was a means to an end, I suppose. It was unnervingly loud, too. Between the ricocheting cracks of the cement to the echoing chorus of shrieks and snarls, all the way to the sound of the grass bending under their feet, I was surprised the humans were not stirring. Then again, it was the dead of night, and they were probably dead asleep.

As they reached the bottom, however, the newborns crumbled at the base, falling into a twisting mess and immediately started fighting one another. It was a massive, tangled mess as they started biting into one another and ripping off the appendages. For a moment, they looked like the Celtic knot art I had seen etched into the walls of the Walkers' colony. A never-ending, twisting, writhing knot that closed in on itself. The one downfall of a massive newborn army—they were volatile and prone to fits of rage. A single drop of blood made them manic.

A smile spread across my face as I thought of it—a Hail Mary. A shot in the dark with less than 20% survival odds. Then again, I always was bad at math. Still, it was idiotic, and yet, if it worked, we might just live to kill the harpies staring down at us.

Without much hesitation, I turned to my right where Shiloh was staring into the abyss along with the others, and said, "You take the high road?"

Shiloh turned abruptly, her brow furrowing in momentary confusion before she smiled, saying, "And you take the low road?"

During our time spent in the tundra of Northern Russia, we had met a small clan of hunters that had broken away from the Walkers long before the purge. They were true nomads and had circled the Earth many times over. They preferred the solace of the Arctic Circle since there were few humans that lived there. They only ventured into the cities to hunt, which they only did once or twice a year. Since they were purebloods, they slept longer than receptors. Their longest stretch had been a decade—it was bizarre.

Living with them, just being around them, it was so strange. They were almost like another species, and they did not communicate well. Many of them still spoke in the original Walkers' tongue, which was a mixture between Gaelic and an older language, one that was more guttural sounds than actual words. Thankfully Dex and Shiloh spoke it fluently because the rest of us merely stood there looking like idiots.

I digress. As I was saying, during our time in Northern Russia, we had encountered a horde of newborns. There were signs of their presence in the form of local farms being decimated with their occupants torn to shreds. We didn't need the venom as we had fed recently; however, the Nomads showed interest, so we hunted together. The newborn pack was significantly smaller than the mass before us, but they were still legion. Seeing their convulsing bodies sprinting toward us through the snow was the first time I had felt fear since Jacksonville. There were more than we had anticipated. Even with the four extra on our side, we were still overwhelmed.